BidOnTravel.com
Home > About Priceline.com
About Priceline.com
Quick overview of Priceline's
Priceline.com stands as one of the most popular, well-known, and financially secure Internet shopping sites and enjoys excellent repeat business. "Name your own price" for airline fares, cars, and hotels has become a reality.
Priceline Better Business Bureau report
As of August 28, 2012, Priceline maintains an A+ Better Business Bureau rating. The company has been a Better Business Bureau accredited business since 1998, other than a brief suspension during 2000 discussed below.
The Better business Bureau bases Priceline's A+ rating on
- Length of time Priceline has been operating.
- Complaint volume filed with BBB for business of this size.
- Response to 2957 complaint(s) filed against business.
- Resolution of complaint(s) filed against business.
- Having sufficient background information on the business.
Nevertheless, BidOnTravel.com reminds you that
- Your Priceline "Name your own price" transactions are non refundable, as are deeply discounted tickets from most sources, including most airlines,
- Your "Name your own price" reservation cannot be changed even by paying a penalty,
- You must research prices available elsewhere before bidding, and
- You'll find that the information on BidOnTravel.com significantly helps you to submit a money-saving bid.
Financial strength
Nearly alone among "dot.com" companies, Priceline.com avoided long-term debt even during the marked downturn in travel following the Pentagon and World Trade Center attacks. This stability helps protect your travel investment.
A generally weak travel environment and global recession actually helped Priceline. With more hotel rooms and rental cars available at deeply-discounted prices, a greater percentage of "Name your own price" bids get accepted. In addition, more people seek values in its "Express Deals for Hotels," which require no bidding.
Priceline proves that you can make money with bargain prices, in spite of unstable energy prices and a weak economy.
With its
- Emphasis on published airfares and hotel rates that make booking easier,
- No booking fees on published airfares,
- Continuing strong advertising effort led by William Shatner (in spite of his recent "death"), and
- Ownership of additional online sites from Asia to Europe,
Priceline seems well positioned to face traditional fluctuations in travel.
Customer service overview
Rapid growth since Priceline.com opened to the public in 1998 has not come without significant problems. During Priceline's first two years,
- Consumers complained bitterly that they were not being sufficiently warned about restrictions on Priceline.com tickets.
As with nearly all deeply discounted tickets sold in the United States, Priceline.com's airline fares are non refundable. Moreover, the rules state that dates and times cannot be changed.
- In addition, many complaints centered on the quality and response time of Priceline.com customer service, which needed major improving.
Faced with so many complaints, the board of directors of the Better Business Bureau in Connecticut (where Priceline is based) suspended Priceline.com's membership during September, 2000.
However, just two months later the the Better Business Bureau board voted to reinstate Priceline.com after finding major changes. Priceline had quickly
- Hired more customer service staff and upgraded their training,
- Revamped its Internet site to make its fare rules clearer,
- Started to feature more nonstop flights and better connections (no more than three hours for flights in the U.S., when available), and
- Sped up its response time to bids to (in most cases) 15 minutes or less. (In most cases, this has become less than one minute).
Perhaps most importantly, Priceline accelerated its transition from the creative "start up" management of its first several years to a management experienced in operating a major business.
As a result, you are unlikely to have a negative experience using Priceline.com today.
Choose from one of the topics below:
